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The ill-fated gold bullion Halfyde inadvertently brought to South Africa in Halfhyde and the Chain Gangs is destined to play a further part in his turbulent career. The Boer War is dragging into a series of seemingly interminable sieges and the British army is floundering on unfamiliar terrain against the cunning of the Boer farmers.

"St. Vincent Halfhyde, merchant sea-captain and ex-Royal Navy officer, has been called back to the colors in the Boer War to guard a consignment of naval gunnery being sent to help General Buller lift the siege of Ladysmith. A shipment of gold bullion, to be used for bribing a key Boer commandant, is also on board. On the trail of the gold are ruthless Dutchmen and escaped British convicts; on Halfhyde's trail is Victoria Penn, his plucky young lover. She is kidnapped in Cape Town by the convicts and Halfhyde is captured in a train wreck by the Boers. After many complications the lovers are reunited aboard his square-rigged Glen Halladale, but the villains are in control of the ship. With help from the sea, loyal sailors and a faintly ridiculous Cape Town bureaucrat named Bewdley, Halfhyde prevails. Fans may wish for more naval action here, but at least they can be sure that as long as McCutchan writes there'll always be an Empire."—Publishers Weekly